Month: August 2013

I have been with my husband for ten years (married for almost four). Now with four little ones you can bet it’s hard to truly have an intimate moment and to focus on our sex lives not to mention to find the time or energy.

In this edition of “Think About It Thursday” we’ll cover ways to spice things up, fun date night ideas and some fun resources you can use.

This first part is by far easier said than done. Make your relationship with your spouse TOP PRIORITY! My worst fear in my marriage is that I’ll have put so much energy into my children that when they grow up and move out, my husband and I will look at one another and realize we don’t know the person standing in front of us. Not to mention a happy marriage means happy parents and happy parents means happy kids.

Also make time to make yourself feel good. A long bath, trip to the hair salon or for you men a clean shave at the barbers. If you don’t make time to make yourself feel good, you’re going to be less likely to be enthusiastic about making your spouse feel good.

Stroke his….ego (c’mon people, clean it up)! Give your significant other a compliment, small token of appreciation or even a simple thank you can go a long way. Now fellas this goes for you two, especially if your wife is at home all day with the kids, let her know that you see and appreciate all that she does.

Allow yourself to be in the mood. I understand that bad days happen, we all have outside issues that stress us out. Let all of that negativity slip into the background for a while and truly be in the moment with your spouse.

Continue to flirt with each other. A glance across the room or a saucy text, flirt like your still courting the other person.

All of the above mentioned are great ways to “connect” and liven things up in your relationship. Some other great ways include:

Unplug, leave the phone and computers alone.

Say ‘I love you’ often

Work out together

Schedule date nights (even if it is at home)

Now date nights are something my husband and I *RARELY* get but when we do, we have some ground rules. Kid talk is kept to an absolute minimum and we “unplug”. That time is meant for us to be together and enjoy each others company. I’ve scoured the internet for some fun and unique date night ideas. Some that I’ve found are:

Hiking

Roller skating

Bowling

Farmers Market

County Fairs

Amateur Comedy Shows (laughing is a great aphrodisiac)

Dance Classes

Cooking Classes

Dates can be spent indoors as well. Turn your bathroom into a spa complete with candlelight, music and good smells or turn your living room into a themed movie room (after the kids are asleep of course). No kids but don’t want to really go out? Spend some time cooking a new meal together. These are just few for you to start off with. There is an awesome website I found called The Date Night Jar with tons of different and unique date ideas.

To help you all get some special time with your loved one, I’m providing one reader with a $25 gift card. Either to Eden Fantasys or a $25.00 giftcard to Restaurant.com. How do you enter to win? Simply tell me how you met your significant other, the story that tugs at my heartstrings the most, wins! Winner will be announced Thursday and of course they get to choose which prize they would like. Now this giveaway is NOT sponsored by Eden Fantasys or Restaurant.com, this is coming out of my own pocket and the kindness of my heart, that’s right cause I love y’all! Now go forth and tell me your “How We Met” stories!!! This contest will run for one week.

Ok I’m not proud of cheating but who has time to make dessert from scratch in a minutes notice? I recently seen an episode of The Pioneer Woman where she makes her family Flat Apple Pie and boy did it look delicious.

Well in the midst of cooking dinner I got the biggest craving for some so I used what I had.

Ingredients:
Pillsbury Premade Pie Crusts
Premium Apple Pie Filling

The how to:

Take your pie crust and unroll them.

Put desired amount of pie filling in the middle then fold in ends. Bake at 400· for 35 minutes.

These were so good that I completely spaced out taking pictured before we chowed down!!! We ate these warm with vanilla ice cream and it was a huge hit. I have a feeling I’ll be making this often. ♡♥♡

Today my little man received his Citrus Lane box in the mail. I’m absolutely in love with all of the great items in this months box. If you have never gotten a Citrus Lane box, here’s the deal in a nut shell. You get a box with about six items for your child all personalized to his/her age. Boxes range in price depending on which subscription package you choose.

Monthly subscriptions are $25.00/box with free shipping

A 3-month subscription also $25.00/box

A 6-month subscription is $21.00/box and noted on their website to be the best value

And you can also get a one year subscription for $21.00/box as well.

Any of the subscriptions can be cancelled at anytime. Also when you refer a friend and they join through your link, they get $10.00 off of their first box and you get $10.00 as well.

Wow! This week’s Mom on the Move is one busy lady!!! Mandy Richardson is owner of M is for Monster and also When & Where Invitations but that isn’t it, she is also a mom to four kiddos, ages 13,4,2 and 5 months! What she does is completely and totally awesome!!! She creates weekly learning activities, gathers everything needed to complete them and sends that great box of awesomeness straight to your door! She provides you the extra time and resources to spend some one on one time with your little one doing educational, fun learning activites.

How did she come up with this insanely genius idea?

I started M is for Monster one day while sitting on my couch. I was googling and pinteresting it up, trying to find fun and educational activities for my kids. Two hours later, I finally had the list of what we were going to be accomplishing that week. Then, like every week before, I had to go shopping for the supplies. I heaved a heavy sigh, and stood up to make my list. “I can not believe no one has come up with a better idea than this!” I thought to myself. So I searched around to see if I could just order the learning activities and supplies instead of having to spend so much of my time planning and prepping. I found nothing. It then occurred to me that if I dreaded doing this every week, other parents out there probably do as well. So it was then and there that I decided to cross one more thing off of parents list and create boxed learning activities delivered right to your door. No more searching and planning and shopping for everything you want to do! Just order an M is for Monster box and you’ll be ready to have fun with your little one while teaching them in the process!

She really has her hands full with her family life and two businesses so I had to know what she likes to do in her down time!?! She says

Down time? What’s that?!

What makes this Momma even more awesome is that she is giving a one month subscription to one lucky reader!!!! In order to win you must

I’m not sure when it happened butility it seems I’ve gotten off track. I have completely submerged myself in everything there is to do with breastfeeding.

I’ve researched in my area and there is a HUGE need for someone with expertise in this area. I’m going through the process of applying to become a La Leche League leader and in six months I’ll be starting classes to become a Certified Breastfeeding Specialist.

I apologize for my slacking and promise to pull up my big girl pants and get my head back in the game. 🙂

It is still Breastfeeding Awareness Month so in this installment of “Think About It Thursday” we’ll talk about getting baby to latch.

One of the most important factors in nursing your little bundle of joy is ‘the latch’. Whether or not Mom and baby successfully get down the latch can often make or break their breastfeeding relationship. I took the following explanation on how to establish a good latch from Womenshealth.gov.

Hold your baby, wearing only a diaper, against your bare chest. Hold the baby upright with his or her head under your chin. Your baby will be comfortable in that cozy valley between your breasts. You can ask your partner or a nurse to place a blanket across your baby’s back and bring your bedcovers over you both. Your skin temperature will rise to warm your baby.

Support his or her neck and shoulders with one hand and hips with the other. He or she may move in an effort to find your breast.

Your baby’s head should be tilted back slightly to make it easy to suck and swallow. With his or her head back and mouth open, the tongue is naturally down and ready for the breast to go on top of it.

Allow your breast to hang naturally. When your baby feels it with his or her cheek, he or she may open his or her mouth wide and reach it up and over the nipple. You can also guide the baby to latch on as you see in the illustrations below.

At first, your baby’s nose will be lined up opposite your nipple. As his or her chin presses into your breast, his or her wide, open mouth will get a large mouthful of breast for a deep latch. Keep in mind that your baby can breathe at the breast. The nostrils flare to allow air in.

Do not put your hands on your baby’s head. As it tilts back, support your baby’s upper back and shoulders with the palm of your hand and pull your baby in close.

Be patient Momma, it can take many attempts for a newborn to learn how to properly latch. There are many ways to tell if your baby is latched properly.

It should feel comfortable with no pain. Often times how the latch feels is more important than how it looks.

Your baby’s chest should be against your body and she should not have to turn her head while drinking.

You see little or no areola depending on the size of your areola and the size of your baby’s mouth. If areola is showing, you will see more above your baby’s lip and less below.

When your baby is positioned well, his or her mouth will be filled with breast.

The tongue will be cupped under the breast, although you might not see it.

You can hear or see your baby swallow. Some babies swallow so quietly, a pause in their breathing may be the only sign of swallowing.

You see the baby’s ears “wiggle” slightly.

Your baby’s lips turn out like fish lips, not in. You may not even be able to see the bottom lip.

Your baby’s chin touches your breast.

Once you and your baby master the latch your breastfeeding relationship should continue without a hitch!-Lauren